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Aggressive on Abortion

By Juliet Lapidos September 5, 2012 8:27 amSeptember 5, 2012 8:27 am

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–The Democratic Party emphasized abortion rights on the first day of the convention, with a video on reproductive choice, remarks from Nancy Keenan, the president of NARAL, and an aggressive aside from Deval Patrick, the Governor of Massachusetts, on the party’s pro-choice record.

Ms. Keenan said “the Democratic Party believes that women have the right to choose a safe, legal abortion with dignity and privacy” and warned that Mitt Romney “would overturn Roe v. Wade and sign into law a wave of outrageous restrictions on a woman’s ability to make decisions about her pregnancy.”

Mr. Patrick said the party believes “that freedom means keeping government out of our most private affairs, including out of a woman’s decision whether to keep an unwanted pregnancy.” His selection of the word “unwanted” as opposed to the milder “unintended” seemed pointed.
Less directly, Michelle Obama said her husband “believes that woman are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care.”

The Democrats seem to have made the calculation that, after widespread outrage at Todd Akin’s rape exception comments, and with the president’s advantage among women voters, they might as well run on their support of reproductive freedom.

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This is a risky proposition. Gallup found in May that only 41 percent of Americans identify as “pro-choice,” a record low, and 50 percent call themselves “pro-life.” Bracketing these imprecise, inflammatory labels, 52 percent said abortion should be legal “under certain circumstances,” 25 percent said legal “under any circumstance,” and 20 percent said it should be “illegal in all circumstances.”

Last night, the Democrats surely pleased the 25 percent minority. Did they also appeal to the larger group of Americans who support choice “under certain circumstances”?